ENG vs SA: England levels series as Proteas posts 2nd lowest ODI total

• England levels the series after 118 runs victory over the Proteas.
• Adil took 3 crucial wickets.
• Proteas’s Pretorius produced his career’s best figures.

Reece Topley’s destructive bowling helped England level the series against South Africa as the hosts thrashed the Proteas by 118 runs in the second one-day international at Old Trafford on Friday.

A comprehensive victory in Manchester! 💪

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/G1uxykBlaX

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 22, 2022

In a contest reduced to 29 overs each side by rain, South Africa was bowled out for 83 runs when chasing 202 to win.

Topley, whose career has been hampered by many stress fractures, triggered a top-order collapse of 27-5 during a stretch of 2-17 in four overs.

Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali claimed five wickets collectively as South Africa were bowled with nearly nine overs left for their equal second-lowest ODI score. Their lowest total was against Australia after they were bowled out for 69 at Sydney in 1993 and equivalent with an 83 against England in the 2nd ODI at Nottingham back in 2008.

Our spin twins 🔮

Five wickets between these two just when we needed it 👏

Advertisement

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/CaitXZcazZ

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 22, 2022

“It feels great, it’s great for us to get the win,” said England captain Jos Buttler.

“The guys are bowling brilliantly. Topley coming back in and getting early wickets, Dave (Willey) doing the same.”

The in-form Topley, who was rested for England’s 62-run loss in the opening ODI at Durham on Tuesday, sent Janneman Malan and Rassie van der Dussen back to the pavilion without letting them score a single run, who scored 50 and 100, respectively in the 1st ODI.

Malan chipped to mid-on while trying to flick off his pads, and Van van Dussen edged to Jos Buttler.

Left-arm quick Willey chipped Quinton de Kock to cover. Aiden Markram was run out without facing a ball by Buttler with the score at 6-4.

Sam Curran bowled David Miller for 12 to leave the Proteas 27-5 after nine overs.

Even though Heinrich Klassen struck 33 against a disciplined England assault, the Proteas couldn’t recover against the 50-over world champions.

Pretorius downs four

Dwaine Pretorius took 4 wickets after his return to the Proteas squad as the hosts were restricted to 201.

Pretorius achieved career-best figures of 4-36, including the wickets of Root and Bairstow in three balls.

South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius – AFP

Two wickets were taken by left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (2-39) and quick bowler Anrich Nortje (2-53).

Liam Livingstone (38) and Sam Curran (35) were the only batsmen to score 30+ runs, while Willey contributed 21 runs to the scoreboard before falling to Pretorius.

England had enough runs to level the series before Sunday’s decider in Leeds.

“I thought that it was a score that could be chased on that wicket,” said South Africa captain Keshav Maharaj.

“We just didn’t adapt well enough with the bat, there were a lot of soft wickets and when you lose four wickets in the powerplay it’s hard to adapt.”

In just nine overs after being asked to bat by Maharaj, England had fallen to 62-4.

Also Read

PAK vs ENG: England security team visits National Stadium for inspection

England security has arrived in Karachi to inspect the arrangements. They will...